Believe it or not, it’s been 25 years since Eve released her first studio album, “Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders’ First Lady,” and introduced us to the eternal club jam, “What Ya’ll Want.”
Suggested Reading
She’s marking that milestone with a new memoir, “Who’s That Girl?” in which she writes about everything from her experience as a female rapper in a male-dominated industry to her struggles with fertility.
In an interview with ABC, Eve told Linsey Davis she felt it was time to break down some of the walls she’d put up in the past. “Hip-hop is about bravado and how hard you can be,” she said.
In honor of her new book. we had to look back at the multi-hyphenate artist’s evolution. From rapper to talk show host to style icon, is there anything Eve can’t do?
A Softer Side
These days, Eve is putting te Ruff Ryder to the side to show off her softer side. She stuns in a floor-length gown at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in London on October 2024.
Making Menswear Look Amazing
Eve’s style has evolved over time, but she always finds a way to make the trends work for her. We love this menswear look she wears in New York City.
Taking Times Square
Eve divides her time between London and the United States these days. But she looks right at home while out and about in Times Square in September 2024.
Ruff Ryders’ First Lady
In September 1999, Eve released her first album, “Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders’ First Lady.” Although the album featured plenty of hip-hop star power, including, Swizz Beats, DMX and Missy Elliot, Eve writes in her book that Jay-Z tried to temper her expectations, saying “female rappers “don’t really do that well.”
Lucky for her, he was wrong, and the album soared to the top of the Billboard charts. But in a recent interview, Eve said she never took Jay’s words as something intended to be mean.
“It was facts, really. But I was like, eh, OK, let me see. I’ma show you. It’s all good. And it went on to be fine. Like I say in the book, we all have that person,” she told The Breakfast Club in a September 17 interview.
Blowing Ya Mind
In 2001, Eve released “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” a collaboration with Gwen Stefani. The single spent 33 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number two on the charts.
Sitcom Star
From 2003 to 2006, Eve starred in the eponymous sitcom, “Eve,” in which she played a Miami fashion designer going through the ups and downs of young adulthood with her friends.
In her book, Eve opens up about the ectopic pregnancy she suffered on set, writing:
“I had to have emergency surgery and stop filming the show for two weeks. I don’t know why I lied to everyone on set and said that my appendix had ruptured, really. Maybe because I was lying to myself. If I faced losing my baby, then I didn’t know if two weeks would be enough emotional healing time. In the end, it was barely enough healing time for me physically, before I was right back to work on set.”
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Happily Ever After
Eve met former race car driver Maximillion Cooper at a launch party for his Gumball 3000 motor rally in 2010. The couple dated for almost four years before eventually tying the knot in Ibiza in 2014.
Although much of the reaction to her marriage is positive these days, Eve says not everyone was on board with their interracial relationship from the start.
“In the beginning it was very hard because obviously, I come from hip hop, there was no other person at that time especially from that world dating outside the race, outside of Black guys,” she told metro.co.uk in a 2020 interview. “ When we first started posting about our relationship, we got the worst crazy messages that I can’t even believe someone could write or think or type these words.”
From Rapper to Actress to Fashion Icon
Although she doesn’t perform as much as she did in the early 2000s, Eve does put on a show on red carpets and fashion events around the world. Here, she’s seen at the Falguni & Shane Peacock show during New York Fashion Week in 2013.
Big Screen Beauty
Like Ice Cube, Queen Latifah and Will Smith, Eve made a seamless transition from rocking the mic to acting on the big screen. She’s best known for playing the role of Terri Jones in the Barbershop movie trilogy.
Who’s That Girl?
At the end of the early 2000s, Eve really starts to make a name for herself as a style star to watch. We love the jewel-toned pantsuit and beautiful braids in this 2018 pic.
Emmy-Nominated Talk Show Host
From 2017 t0 2020, Eve was one of the cohosts of the CBS daytime talk show, The Talk, alongside Carrie Ann Inaba, Sharon Osbourne and Sheryl Underwood. Although she only spent three years on the show, she earned two Daytime Emmy Award nominations for her work. Eve left the show in 2020 to spend more time with her family in London.
“I’ve grown as a woman, as a person. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: I never thought that being on a talk show would be this much of an opening of my spirit, soul, personality, everything. Sitting onstage with all you women has been the best thing ever. I truly love you,” she said about her departure from the show.
Living Her Best Life in London
These days, Eve and her family spend lots of time in London, and it’s hard to deny that life in Europe looks amazing on her. In 2022, she showed up at the launch event for a Bulgari immersive exhibition in London in a gorgeous lace top and black pants.
Denim on Denim
Eve reps denim on denim with a cute cropped jacket and bejeweled wide leg jeans.
Platinum Beauty
She may have started as a Ruff Ryder, but ya girl knows how to get glam when the situation calls for it. She’s absolutely slaying this platinum bob haircut and wide-leg pants while out in London in 2023.
Pink Perfection
We love all of Eve’s iconic hairstyles. But this pink bob is one of our favorites.
Leather Look
We’re living for this leather look Eve wore during a recent shoot for The Sunday Times Style.
“Thank you @hattiecollins for the exclusive UK interview,” she captioned the September 15 Instagram post.
Mom Life
Although Eve has been stepmom to her husband’s four children from a previous relationship since they got married in 2014, the couple welcomed their son, Wilde Wolfe together in 2022. She shares her struggles with fertility in her new book, writing:
“For years, I never grieved losing my first baby. I didn’t know how to, but I eventually learned. I had to speak to that baby and acknowledge their existence. I had to forgive myself and know that what had happened wasn’t my fault, that I deserved to be a mother, and that I was ready to bring a baby into this world down here.
And his name would be Wilde Wolfe.”
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